Happy 60th Birthday!

On Christmas day, it was my father in law's 60th birthday and here is the cake that I made for him. He is a massive fan of Marilyn Monroe and that's who it's supposed to popping out of the cake.
This was a really simple cake to do and once it was all put together, I think it looks really effective. Making the model of Marilyn was probably the most difficult part of the cake, especially getting the eyes right!

The cake is a vanilla sponge, sandwiched with jam and butter cream, it is two tiers and the top tier has been cut and the icing folded back, to make it look like a lady jumping out of a cake. I made the stars from icing, sprinkled edible glitter over them and then waited for them to go hard before i put them onto the wire and then pushed them into the cake. I then added the black and silver ribbons and glued "happy 60th birthday", which I had made using cutters, onto the cake board.
This has been my favourite cake that I have made so far and it tasted yummy!

Merry Christmas!

I have been trying to get into the Christmas spirit this week and making this gingerbread house defiantly helped. I bought the kit and stuck it together using royal icing and used different sweets to decorate the house, I then made the little gingerbread man from sugar paste, I tried to model it on the gingerbread man from Shrek. Then with a sprinkling of icing sugar for snow it was done. It now has pride of place on my dining room table, I'm just worried that it's gonna get eaten by my dogs so I'm thinking I should move it!

Christening Cupcakes.

On the 6th December, myself and my partner, Steve, were godparents to our friends children, Rhys and Alecia.

So I decided to make some cupcakes, as I thought it would be a good chance to show off my creations and also a nice little treat for everyone on what was a lovely day!

I made 40 vanilla cupcakes in the pink/blue spotty cases, each cupcake has white sugar paste and then either a pink or blue teddy bear, that I had made from sugar paste and then either a pink heart or a blue star. I colour co-ordinated each cupcake to match the pink/blue spotty cases that I had bought.
I also made 40 double chocolate fudge cupcakes, I have made these quite a few times and they always go down really well so that is why I went with these again plus they are one of my favourites!

All the cupcakes were eaten, which is a good sign plus I had a lot of people, throughout the day, telling me they were gorgeous!

I had a lovely day and I am extremely pleased that everyone enjoyed the cupcakes, it was such an honour to be asked to be a godparent, especially because Rhys and Alecia are such great kids!

Iggle Piggle.

I have made some Iggle Piggle/In the Night Garden cupcakes, for a friends little boy. They are really easy to do and I think they look so cute! They are vanilla sponge and topped with sugar paste, the Iggle Piggle's are really simple to make, once you have the shape of the head it's just a case of adding the eyes, nose, a smiling mouth and then little bits of red for the hair.

Happy 16th Birthday Robert!

Here's a cake I did for my little brother, Robert, who was 16 on the 6th December and we share the same birthday, there's a bit of a running joke between us that we are actually twins but there is 15 years between us!

Robert is really into fishing so that's why I went with a fishing theme. He loved the cake but the only problem was that I didn't even get a slice!

Exterminate!

Here is a cake that I made today, for a little boy called Nathan who will be eight tomorrow. When he first asked for a dalek cake, I was a bit stuck to how I was going to do it but it went really well and I enjoyed making it!

I made the cake by, making two large sponge cakes and cut out the shape by using a template. Once I had put jam and butter cream in between the cake, I covered it with sugar paste, that I had coloured black. Then using a picture of a darlek, I added all the details and painted some parts silver.

I dropped the cake off this evening and Nathan looked so pleased with it, he said it was "great" also his mum said that he was very excited and has been telling everyone that he is getting a darlek cake, bless!

Rhys' Cupcakes.

I looked after my friends little boy, Rhys, on Monday for a few hours and we made some cakes. Rhys was really good at making the cakes and especially liked using my electric whisk! Once the cakes were done, we put jam and butter cream on, then the sugar paste. Rhys added a few special touches to some of the cakes but then he could not wait any longer to eat one so whilst he was enjoying his cake, I piped the names of Rhys' brother and sister, my niece and my partner, on the rest of the cakes.

I was really impressed with how well he did at making these cakes and he certainly enjoyed it!

Happy 7th Birthday Jack!

It was my nephew, Jack's birthday party yesterday and here is the cake that I made him. It is a vanilla sponge with jam and butter cream, everyone at the party loved it and thought the sponge was really moist, which is good because who wants to eat dry cake!

I cut the cake into the shape of a number 7, using a template I had made, then covered the cake with yellow sugar paste, put a silver ribbon around and then glued the silver stars on the top, that I had made from sugar paste and painted silver. I then used the rest of the stars and put on to wires and put them into the cake. I made a few red stars and a large red star which I piped "Happy Birthday Jack".

I made the model of Jack the night before, if you look carefully you can see he is playing his Nintendo DS, which is something he loves to do!

The cake went down really well and Jack's younger brother, Thomas wants the same for his 5th birthday, next year, bless him!

Here is Jack, getting ready to blow out his candles.

My Final Masterpiece!

It was my last night at college on Wednesday and we were asked to bring in a fruit cake and our finished flowers, that we had to arrange into a spray. Brenda showed us how to cover the cake with marzipan and sugar paste. She then went on to show us how to attach our flowers on the cake and a few other decorating ideas. I then covered my cake with marzipan and sugar paste, then put a ribbon around the cake and placed my flowers non top, using a small piece of sugar paste to secure them. Using a crimmper tool, I crimmped around the cake board, which I had covered with sugar paste, then I cimmped the top and around the sides. I used a rose embosser around the sides and dusted each rose to add a touch of colour.
I am really pleased with my cake, Brenda was really impressed and she thought my flowers were lovely! I am donating my cake to a friend, Emsie, her mum is having a coffee morning in December for charity, so I thought she could raffle it off. I am glad it is going to a good cause and someone else can enjoy it.
I am going to carry on and do the intermediate cake decorating course, it will take place at Brenda's shop but not till next year. I am looking forward to it, as I have really enjoyed this course and have learnt a great deal.

Cinderella Cake for Freya.

Here is a cake I have done for a little girl called, Freya, who will be 4 tomorrow. They wanted the cake to be similar to a cushion that Freya has so I took a picture of the cushion and made the cake from that. I was really nervous making this cake, as it took me a while to figure out how I was going to do it but I managed to do it and I am pleased with how it came out. I hope they enjoy it!

Baby in a Pram.

This is a cake that I have done for a lady, Maureen, who works with my mum. it's her granddaughter's third birthday today so I thought this cute little baby and teddy sleeping in a pram would be ideal. My mum rang this evening to give me the verdict and they absolutely loved it!

Avila's Garden Cupcakes.

On Monday I looked after my niece, Avila for the day and as usual in Blackpool it was pouring down with rain! So we decided to make some cupcakes, we went with a garden theme, making bumble bees, ladybugs, butterflies and flowers from sugar paste and I was really impressed with how good she was at doing this. Once the cupcake were made, we covered each cupcake with green sugar paste, as this was the grass and then we decorated them. Avila seemed to really enjoy herself and it certainly kept us busy for a few hours!

Here Piggy, Piggy!

Here is a "pig pen" cake that I have made for my niece's boyfriend, Jamie for his 30th birthday. My niece, Mel, has a pet name for him which is "pig" (don't ask!), so when she saw this, in a cake book that I have recently bought, she thought it would be great for him!

I really enjoyed making this cake, at first I was a bit worried that I wouldn't be able to do it but I am really pleased with how it came out.

Here are two sugar paste models that I made as practice, a pretty pink teddy enjoying a tea party and a dog which is supposed to be my own dog, Bruno.

At college on Wednesday, Brenda demonstrated how to make flowers, she started by showing how to make a filler flower, which is just a small flower that would be used to add more volume to a spray. She then went on to show us how to make roses and carnations. I managed to do a filler flower and two roses, they are really pretty and not as complicated to make as I first thought.

For next time, I have to bring at least five flowers, that I have made, then we will be showed how to dust the flowers to add a touch of colour and we also will be shown how to arrange the flowers into a spray.

Here is my model I made at college on Wednesday. Brenda gave us the options to make either a baby sat up, a baby sleeping, a teddy bear or a elephant. Brenda gave a demonstration of how to make each model using sugar paste. From the way she showed us, you start with the same thing for every model and then just adapt it, depending on what you are making. Brenda sent us off to make our own model, I decided to make a baby sleeping and added a blanket, bottle, the building blocks and a little rubber duck. I am really pleased and really enjoyed doing it, I think my sleeping baby would look great on a christening or baby shower cake. I am going to get some sugar paste and have a go at the other models that Brenda showed us to make. Next week we are making flowers.

My two nieces and nephew, Clodagh, Diddi and Lochlan, have been with me this week for another holiday in Blackpool. We have been really busy out and about but we managed to squeeze in a morning to create this beautiful butterfly cake. It is a vanilla sponge with jam and vanilla butter cream in the middle. The kids helped to make the sponge and the butter cream and then I iced it using sugar paste. I then left the kids to decorate it however they wanted and I think it looks ace! We took the cake round to my brother's house to share with my other nephews, Jack and Thomas, I have never seen a cake disappear so fast, they all loved it!

I was at college last night and here is my cake that I decorated, I'm pleased with how it turned out as I have never iced a cake before. The only thing is I think it kind of looks like a hat but this is the way Brenda showed the class how to ice the cake.
Brenda started by showing, how to make butter cream and how to fill the cake with jam and butter cream. We all then did this to our own cakes and put a thin layer of butter cream round the whole cake, which helps the sugar paste to stick. We then rolled out the sugar paste and covered the cake completely, then gently pressed the sugar paste onto the cake and smoothed the top and the sides of the cake using a smoother. Then I trimmed off any excess sugar paste and used a crimper to make the little heart shapes around the cake. I finished off the cake with the ribbon and bow and then added the little flowers, that I had already made. The cake was delicious, there is half left but it probably won't last long! Next week we will be making a model of a figure of either a baby or a teddy bear.

As I am picking my niece, Avila, up today from school, I decided to make her some cakes, I've not seen her for a bit so I thought these would be a nice little treat for her.
The cakes are just vanilla sponge with royal icing and dolly mixtures and razzles for decoration. They are pretty simple cakes to make but ideal for kids, I'm sure she will love them!

18th Birthday Cupcakes.

Here are some cupcakes that I have done for a lady, Jane, who my mum works with, as her daughter was turning 18. I made her 24 vanilla sponge with strawberry flavoured butter cream and 25 double chocolate sponge with chocolate fudge butter cream.
I made the number 18 and all the little flowers from pink and lilac sugar paste and used lilac sugar sand for the sparkles.

I gave Jane my 6 tier stand to put the cupcakes on for her daughter's party, these stands are a great way to display cupcakes and they do look good for a party!

I had just purchased 2 cupcake couriers, each holds 36 cupcakes and has 3 trays which can be removed and then can be used for a larger cake. These couriers came in very useful, as I was wondering what I was going to put 50 cupcakes in!

I went to college last Wednesday and Brenda, the tutor, was there this time! Brenda started by showing us how to make royal icing, then we were shown how to make a icing bag from parchment paper and then we had to make our own, my mum had a little bit of trouble with hers but we got their. We then put a nozzle in the end of the bag and filled it with royal icing, she had given out sheets with lines, lettering and numbers on them, to practise piping work. This week we have to bring in two 8 inch vanilla sponges, as we will be covering the cake in sugar paste and she will be showing us basic skills for decorating the cake.

Well I started my cake course last night, it was due to start a 7 but there was no sign of the tutor, Brenda and when someone went to ring her, we were told that she was told it started next week and was sat at home eating her tea, watching Emmerdale!! When she arrived she was about an hour late and full of apologies, so she made the decision to extend the course by a week and to start properly next week, oh well never mind!
We were given a list of things we will be doing from week to week so I am looking forward to getting started properly!

Dennis' Carrot Cake.

My friend, Mel, asked me if I would make her dad, Dennis, a carrot cake for him to take away when he goes on a fishing trip and here it is!
I have made a two tier carrot cake with a cream cheese frosting, chopped walnuts around the side and little carrots, made from icing, for decoration.

This is the first time I have used this recipe, so I used some of the cake mix to make a couple of cupcakes, so then I could have a taste and they were delicious. The recipe asked for chopped tinned pineapple to be added to the cake mix and I was unsure as I have never used this in a carrot cake before but it definitely made a difference, as the cake was very moist.

Dennis leaves for his fishing trip tomorrow and I hope Dennis and his friends enjoy the cake and I hope that it makes it there in one piece! Fingers crossed it will!